Marissa Jaret Winokur, Laura Bell Bundy and Kerry Butler of ‘Hairspray fame reunite for a new Off-Broadway concert. (Photo: Russ Rowland)
Marissa Jaret Winokur, of 2002 Hairspray fame, has teamed up with original Hairspray co-stars Laura Bell Bundy and Kerry Butler for Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now, a captivating, heart-warming, Off-Broadway concert experience.
Winokur became one of Broadway’s most poignant, unforgettable figures in 2002 as Hairspray’s Tracy Turnblad. Bundy and Butler played Amber Von Tussle and Penny Pingleton, respectively.
As the leading lady in the eight-time Tony Award winning musical, Winokur played the first chubby, short, teenage girl in an empowering, motivational role that continues to speak to two generations of women: those who fell in love with her when Hairspray ran for more than six years, and now their daughters as well.
The new Off-Broadway show celebrates their twenty years of friendship, motherhood, and diverse careers that led to their current home at New World Stages. Winokur spoke with The New York Independent about the critically acclaimed show that just announced an extension through December 21.
The New York Independent: How did Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now come to fruition?
Marissa Jaret Winokur: Laura Bell and Kerry were doing a concert in Utah together and they said, ‘We should do a concert with Marissa called Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now.‘ They sent me a video asking me about doing it…and I never got it! A year later, Laura asked me to do something and I said, ‘We should do something all together- I don’t want to do it alone. That’s so boring!’ She laughed and said, ‘Kerry and I tried to get you to come do something with us and you never answered us.’ It was crazy. I was into the idea immediately! Then it was full speed ahead.
NYI: Audiences might be surprised to find that the show is not a cabaret. The mash-ups of songs and how they are used to tell all of your stories is so profound and clever. What was it like to write it?
MJW: It was so interesting because we all talked with one another about the one-woman shows we have done in the past. You’d be so surprised how our stories really came together. In my solo show I sing “Popular.” Laura also does “Popular” in hers! So many things worked and overlapped. We enjoyed writing what we would have been like if we had been friends when we were kids.
We were literally in Kerry’s attic when we were writing the mash-up of songs from when we were kids. I said, “I just wanted to be Ethel Merman.” Eventually, Laura took all of the songs that we talked about and put them in the childhood medley and a mom medley with our music director. With the script we kept trying things out. We did six or seven shows before coming to New York, so we got to see what worked and didn’t work.
Marissa Jaret Winokur (center) Laura Bell Bundy and Kerry Butler belt out a song. (Photo: Russ Rowland)
NYI: Every person in the audience has a special connection with all three of you. Hairspray continues to touch people all of these years later. Why do you think the show, you, Laura, and Kerry, have such staying power?
MJW: We never give up! I always joke that no one asked us to come back to Broadway, but here we are. I think Hairspray was such an important show. It was right after September 11, we were all heartbroken, and we thought, ‘Is theatre every going to come back to New York?’ Hairspray previewed in July 2002, and it was a story without your typical leading lady. It had different types. I’m usually not the ingénue. Everything was upside down and turned around. It was the first show of its type that had to do with segregation and an overweight teen.
John Waters [the director and writer of the film on which Hairspray is based] used to say that the chubby high school girl gets picked on the most out of all the minorities. The fat chick always gets picked on regardless of race and religion. It was before social media where you now get to see real people that represent real body types. Now, every Instagram feed is about being body positive, and there’s so many outlets for people to feel good about themselves.
Currently, so many stars are not skinny. In the early 2000s and late 1990s, everybody looked the same, and I came in and looked different. I think that inspired a lot of other people to want to do something new. They saw themselves in me. That’s what my staying power was. Kerry [Beetlejuice] is just so talented. Every week she’s doing a reading of a new show. Laura [Legally Blonde] is always starting a new business. She was a soap star, a country star, a Broadway star, a TV star. We all have such diverse careers. Hopefully, we’re still going to be there at the end and float to the top.
NYI: You have definitely had such a strong impact on young women. What is one of your favorite memories that fans have shared after performances of Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now?
MJW: I knew it was big when it was happening because so many people were telling me that. We are constantly meeting fans who our show touched when they were 20-something, and now they’re coming to me at 40 and saying, “You changed my life.” I’m 50 now, so to know I helped women feel good about themselves at any age is a great feeling. I embrace it. My favorite audience member is the mom bringing her daughter, pointing to me and saying, “This is the chick that I love and have talked about for twenty years.”
NYI: What has helped you, Laura, and Kerry stay so close?
MJW: We were close because we went through something together that was so special. I think the whole cast of Hairspray is so close. I’d go two years without talking to Kerry, but then when I found her we would catch up. Laura and I were both living in Los Angeles so we got to see each other a lot more. I would always see Kerry when I would come to New York, and we would always make the effort to keep in touch.
Everyone has a family and a job, it doesn’t have to be an everyday call. Now I talk to these girls ten times a day. We all have a level playing field of being busy and having families, and knowing that if we don’t talk everyday doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. It has always been the same with [Hairspray’s] Matt Morrison [Link Larkin] and Shoshana Bean [Shelly] too. We always know what’s going on in each other’s lives, but it’s never like we owe each other anything.
NYI: What have you learned about yourself through working on Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now?
MJW: It has been really hard because we did everything! We directed it, wrote it…I even painted the set! I’m a girl who can’t say no because we have to keep going. Doing this show has definitely honored my inner child. After Hairspray I veered away from the theatre because it was so hard, and it took so much of my soul. When you do Tracy Turnblad, there’s nothing better. I learned that I can do anything if I set my mind to it, and there is no age limit. I want to honor that 20 year-old who only wanted to be doing theatre and do it again. People ask what I would tell my younger self, and I say, ‘Oh no, I want my younger self to give my adult self some advice.’ My younger self was brave and excited. Now I want to do dinner at 5 pm and be in bed by 9 pm. I just want to be with my dogs!
NYI: In twenty years when you’re reviving Mama I‘m a Big Girl Now, what stories do you imagine you will be telling?
MJW: I hope my son is married with a baby, and I have a grandchild. We always say we’ll do a show called Welcome to Our Sixties. Literally. We’ll all have gone and done other big shows that are inspiring and that we’ll be singing from. We’ll finally be old enough to sing “The Ladies Who Lunch.” A lot about this show is inspiring women to have strong female connections, to not give up on themselves, and to follow their goals and dreams. For me, the show says, “Don’t count me out!” I’m still the same person I was twenty years ago. I just keep trying to pave ways for people.
NYI: What is something that is not in the show that people would be surprised to learn about you?
MJW: My guilty pleasure is that I’ve watched every procedural TV show that there is or was. “Law & Order: SVU,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” etc. I’ve watched them all. I also watch them as they air! But I’ve only been on one: “CSI” with Ted Danson. I’ve never done a Dick Wolf production. I’m very devastated by that, and I want to do one!
NYI: Why should everyone, not just fans of Hairspray, make sure they catch Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now?
MJW: People will see it and simply feel good. We are literally doing something that I don’t think you ever get to do in theatre, which is really be intimate and close. I pretty much see everybody’s face by the time the show is over. I feel like I make eye contact with everyone. There’s something special about that in this day and age because we’re so disconnected from everybody.